


A Bird's Eye View

by hoteldumortz



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Angst, Comfort, F/F, Friendship, I love Lindsay, M/M, and I love Malec, brief comfort though, so this happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-24 21:40:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10750350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoteldumortz/pseuds/hoteldumortz
Summary: Lindsay is caught in the middle of the attack on the Institute and runs into a familiar face who is searching the halls desperately for a loved one.





	A Bird's Eye View

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> So I've been thinking about this idea for a while and I decided one day to turn it into a mini fic! I hope you all enjoy (and also agree with me that Lindsay needs to be on the show more and that her and Malec become best friends okay bye)

_Of course I was in the bathroom,_ Lindsay thinks bitterly to herself as she presses her back against the cold stone of the wall, peeking around the corner to see if any Circle Members are coming her way. _Of course I was in the bathroom when all Hell breaks loose, and now all the Shadowhunters here are either dead, out fighting Valentine, or Circle Members. Just great. Just PEACHY._

Lindsay rounds the corner, fingering the hilt of her seraph blade in his thigh holster as an attempt to comfort herself, to remind herself that she has a weapon, if needed. She pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose and tiptoes down the hallway, scanning the area around her constantly to make sure no one takes her by surprise.

Her ears are still ringing from the screaming.

She had just managed to throw a Circle Member off of her as she was walking out of the bathroom and stab him in the back and was running away for safety when she heard a chorus of blood curdling screams from upstairs. They were agonizing, as if they were being forcibly ripped out of throats, and they reverberated throughout the building and seemed to make the Institute, a building that has been standing for centuries, shake. And there were a lot of them, hundreds of voices begging, pleading, in so much pain and desperation. They had made Lindsay stop right in her tracks, the hair on the back of her neck and arms standing on end and goosebumps erupting all over her body. She had pressed her palms over her ears, squeezing her eyes shut and gritting her teeth because she couldn’t stop shaking, needed for the horrible and awful noises to end.

And she had cried, oh how she had cried when the shouts stopped all at once, like a flame snuffed from a candle or a light turned off. Realization washed over her like waves crashing against rocks and she had let out a shaky gasp and fell to her knees, hastily taking off her glasses and crying quietly, a hand over her mouth to muffle the sobs. She frankly didn’t care who or what found her as she sat there for at least five minutes, in the middle of the training room, her knees to her chest and tears streaming around her face. People, Downworlders, were either dead or dying, and she had no idea who they were, but something terrible had just happened, and she hadn’t been there to try and stop it. and the ringing in her ears was on the threshold of pain, so unbearable that she couldn’t stand up, couldn’t think. all she could do was cry and mourn for unknown souls, at least for a while.

Lindsay sniffles once and wipes her nose with her sleeve as she continues to walk through the seemingly empty Institute. The floor creaks under her boots, but besides that, all is eerily quiet, too quiet for her tastes. She’s trying to find the source of all the screaming, or maybe another familiar face or some way to fix the problem. She frankly doesn’t know exactly what she’s looking for. Her brain is too much of in a haze, trying to comprehend what has just happened to be thinking clearly, so she makes a decision to take action based on whatever she sees or finds first.

It’s too late for her to register the running footsteps behind her before she feels a hand on her shoulder, and Lindsay lets out a yell of surprise and spins around, whipping out her seraph blade and pointing it at her attacker’s throat.

Immense relief fills her and she sighs, allowing herself to smile a little as she lowers the weapon.

“You scared the hell out of me, Alec.” She explains, putting her seraph blade back into her thigh holster. “Sorry about that-”

It takes Lindsay a second to realize that Alec is breathing rather hard, like he’s been sprinting around the Institute for hours. His eyes, usually very calm and stoic, are wide and panicked, and his chest is rising and falling. The knuckles on his hand gripping his own seraph blade are white and he’s sweating, and Lindsay watches with confused fascination as a bead of sweat rolls down the side of his face. 

“Hey, you okay?” She asks cautiously, reaching out for him but he flinches away from her and rubs the back of his neck, roughly, as if he was trying to scratch the skin at his nape. 

“I’m, uh,-” Alec’s voice is hoarse, as if he were screaming at the top of his lungs a while before, and he clears his throat, blinking rapidly. 

“Have you seen Magnus?” The question is whispered and rushed and his voice cracks at the end of it. If Lindsay is being honest with herself, Alec, standing there with his nails digging into his palms and his teeth biting his lower lip and his breathing rapid and eyes wild and desperate, looks as if he is going out of his mind. 

” Magnus?” she repeats and Alec sighs impatiently, as if he doesn’t have time for this. 

“Yes, Magnus. I can’t- I can’t find him,” Lindsay’s heart breaks because Alec is now trembling, his fingers shaking as he nervously rakes his hands along the side of his faces, his lips parted and his face very pale. “I have no idea where he is. I’ve been looking….. _everywhere_ and I don’t know what to do.” 

Lindsay doesn’t know too much about Alec Lightwood’s relationship with the High Warlock of Brooklyn. She had arrived at the Institute after the whole wedding spiel, but knew of it because it was still the hottest gossip when she first started. She had seen them around several times while she was working at her desk, talking while standing close together, sometimes holding hands while doing so. Magnus had even come by her desk one day asking if she knew where ’“Alexander” was. 

“Sorry, I don’t,” she had confessed. “But I can find him.” she then added with a smile, and Magnus’ face lit up like the whole entirety of New York City itself. “Why thank you…..” 

“Lindsay.” Lindsay held out a hand to shake and Magnus took it, the rings on his fingers cool on her skin. 

“You are a treasure, Ms. Lindsay. Perhaps I’ll send you a fruit basket one day for being such a bright and perky face to see in the morning.” A warm flush heated Lindsay’s cheeks and she smiled at Magnus, deciding right then and there that she liked Alec Lightwood’s new boyfriend. 

“Get down here, Lightwood, you have a very special guest,” she said later into her phone, after dialing Alec’s number and looking over at Magnus, who gave her a thumbs up. “Yes, yes, it’s Magnus Bane. He wanted to surprise you……..alright, he’s here, Alec, come down or else I’ll tell him to leave….ALEC I’m kidding, I would never.” Lindsay hung up and rested her chin in her hand. “I like pineapples and mangoes.” she had said with a flash of a smile and Magnus had laughed, his face getting even more happy as soon as Alec had entered the room to meet him. 

A week later, she tossed Alec an apple, who caught it with surprise. “Your boyfriend sent me a fruit basket,” she said and she giggled joyfully when Alec beamed at her when she used the term. “Thought you might like a snack.” They had both grinned at each other from across the room, Alec even giving a little wave and taking a satisfying bite into his apple as he strolled off, a gleeful bounce in his step. 

That was all she knew about Alec Lightwood and Magnus’ Bane’s relationship, apart from the fact that Alec would always get this soft, dreamy look on his face whenever he talked about him. 

_The screams_ , Lindsay suddenly remembers and her heart stops, _Magnus._

The chances that Magnus is alive, if he is here, are slim, since all Lindsay has run into besides Circle Members and Alec are dead bodies. The bodies of Downworlders, warlocks. 

So as she stares at Alec, who is begging for some good news when she has none to give, Lindsay feels extremely guilty. 

“I’m so sorry.” she replies in a hushed voice and that is all she has to say, and Alec hangs his head in defeat. He looks so lost and confused that Lindsay feels her gut wrench. Alec is their leader, strong and fearless, but now he looks like a scared child in one of those corn mazes who lost its parents, stumbling around and calling out for someone to find them and crying because they’re so frightened. 

Alec nods bravely and swallows, brushing past Lindsay without looking her, no doubt to continue his search. Lindsay is frozen in time, not sure what to do or say until she blurts out an “Alec.” and Alec turns. They share a moment of eye contact, before Lindsay continues sincerely, with a nod of her head. “I hope you find him.” Alec only blinks a few more times and nods before turning on his heel and running off again, leaving Lindsay in the middle of the hallway. Lindsay stands there for a minute before cupping her hands over her mouth and shouting, "Magnus!” as loud as she can, perhaps thinking that she could help Alec locate him. But all she hears is her own voice echoing back and Lindsay’s spirit sinks as she trudges onward towards an unclear destination. 

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The smile on Lindsay’s face is humongous as she stands outside the Institute and notices Alec and Magnus in an embrace in front of the steps, Alec’s face buried in his boyfriend’s shoulder and Magnus’ hands rubbing soothing patterns on his back. They’re so wrapped up in each other, it’s impossible to say when they will let go, but there’s this air of relief, hope, and something even greater surrounding them. It’s pure bliss. 

Lindsay feels tears fill her eyes, threatening to still, but she holds them in. No more tears today, even if they are happy ones. Shaking her head, she wipes her eyes and busies herself with helping clean up some of their damage, but she keeps sneaking glances over at Magnus and Alec, who still haven’t stopped hugging yet. 

“I’m so glad you found him.” she comments later to Alec once things are slowly repairing themselves, going up to him as he is visiting some injured Downworlders. 

The smile that Alec gives her is out of this world. 

“Yeah, me too.” He twiddles his thumbs and looks down at her, a new look in his eyes as if he is just remembering something. 

“He loves me.” Alec says after a while and Lindsay wants to throw her arms around her friend and hug him because _that is wonderful, absolutely wonderful_. Alec looks so content right now, despite looking exhausted, but he looks like the happiest man in the world in the most subtle ways. 

“On the steps, I…I told him I love him and he said he loves me back. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, you’re the first person I’ve told-” Alec stops himself. “It’s just nice, to be loved by someone. This warm, nice feeling. It’s really, really nice.” He starts to walk away and then he turns around and says, furrowing his brow a little. “I hope you feel that feeling someday too, Lindsay. You deserve it.” 

“Actually, I’m supposed to go on a date next week with Eileen. But we’ll see.” Lindsay winks and Alec chuckles and the two part their separate ways, the smiles on both of their faces contagious.


End file.
